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origin restful authentication

Use this example Rails application as a basis for a typical web application.

It provides a complete system for managing users, using RESTful authentication, as described in the forum discussion Restful Authentication With All the Bells and Whistles.

The application provides authentication (the user must enter a name and password to use the application) and authorization (access to some pages is limited to users with an "administrator" role). To use the application, a visitor must sign up and click an activation link in an email message. If the user forgets his or her password, there is a forgot password option that emails a reset password link.

Features from "Restful Authentication With All the Bells and Whistles"

  • visitors register ("sign up") to create a user account
  • new users are emailed a link to verify their email address and activate their account
  • users "log in" to use the application by providing a username and password
  • a "forgotten password" feature sets a new password for a user
  • some users can be assigned an administrator role to edit or delete other users
  • user management and authentication is implemented with a RESTful architecture

Added Features

  • user status managed with the "acts as state machine" (AASM) plugin
  • Email messages can be sent using a Google gmail account

The application does not provide support for the OpenID protocol. The forum discussion Restful Authentication With All the Bells and Whistles provides instructions for adding OpenID support if you require it.

Dependencies

  • Runs under Rails 2.1

Rails Plugins Used

  • restful_authentication
  • acts as state machine
  • rspec
  • rspec-rails

Get It

The source code is managed with Git (a version control system) and hosted at GitHub. You'll need Git on your machine (install it from http://git.or.cz/).

You can download the app ("clone the repository") with the command

$ git clone git://github.com/fortuity/origin_restful_authentication.git

Configure Email

The application has been configured to use a Google gmail account to send confirmation emails to new users. Using a Google gmail account means you can host the application with a hosting provider who does not provide email services. Alternatively, if you have an email server for your domain, you can use your own email server if you wish.

Configure email by modifying

config/initializers/mail.rb
app/models/user_mailer.rb
db/migrate/004_create_roles_users.rb

Set Up the Database

You'll need to be in the application root directory:

$ cd origin_restful_authentication

You can use the default settings if you're using SQLite.

$ cp config/database.sample.yml config/database.yml

If you're using MySQL, you'll need to edit the file

config/database.yml

Set up the database by running

$ rake db:create:all
$ rake db:migrate

If you get an error

SQLite3::SQLException: no such table

it means you didn't run the database migration.

Running the database migrations sets up a user named "admin" with a password "admin" and a role of "administrator". You can modify the file

db/migrate/004_create_roles_users.rb

if you wish to change the administrator name and password (or you can reset it later).

Getting Started

Start the server

$ script/server

and go to http://localhost:3000/.

To sign in as the pre-configured admin user, use

	name: admin
	password: admin

You should change the admin user name and password after you log in.

Deploy

Before you deploy to production, be sure to replace http://localhost:3000/ with your domain in the files:

app/models/user_mailer.rb
lib/authenticated_system.rb

Running RSpec

RSpec is a framework for creating specifications and testing a Rails web application.

You can run RSpec "stories" to see the specifications for the application's behavior. You can run RSpec "examples" to verify the application is behaving as intended at the object level.

You must prepare the test database before running RSpec:

$ rake db:test:prepare

which takes a schema dump from the development database and uses it to create a test database. (If you're modifying the app, you'll need to do that after every migration.)

To see the RSpec stories:

$ ruby stories/all.rb

To run the RSpec specs:

$ rake spec

To Do

  • Run the restful_authentication generator
  • Add everything specified by "Restful Authentication With All the Bells and Whistles"
  • Add Google gmail support
  • Style with Blueprint CSS
  • Change "login" to use email addresses instead

Done

  • Create an empty default Rails app
  • Add a License and README file
  • Created a .gitignore file
  • Checked the app into GitHub
  • Added RSpec (version 1.1.4)
  • Installed the restful_authentication plugin (version of 08/07/08)
  • Installed the "acts as state machine" plugin (version 2.1)

Documentation and Support

The forum discussion Restful Authentication With All the Bells and Whistles provides detailed information about the code. You can seek clarification or help there.

Here are useful blog postings:

This application is provided without additional documentation or support.

Credits

  • Rick Olson (and contributors) for the Restful Authentication Generator plugin
  • "activefx" for "Restful Authentication With All the Bells and Whistles"
  • Scott Barron for the "acts as state machine" plugin

License

Public Domain Dedication

This work is a compilation and derivation from other previously released works. With the exception of various included works, which may be restricted by other licenses, the author or authors of this code dedicate any and all copyright interest in this code to the public domain. We make this dedication for the benefit of the public at large and to the detriment of our heirs and successors. We intend this dedication to be an overt act of relinquishment in perpetuity of all present and future rights to this code under copyright law.